We have a great selection of spooky reads to get you into the Halloween spirit, to fright and delight in equal measure! 

Our Halloween traditions are drawn from ancient religious and pagan festivals celebrated over the end of autumn. The term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe'en, is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening before "All Hallows' Day" (also known as "All Saints' Day"). Halloween was also sometimes called All Saints' Eve. Allhallowtide was a time for Christians to remember the dead as the nights grew longer and winter arrived.

Halloween may also have roots in the Gaelic festival Samhain, a day of celebration to mark the end of harvest, when bonfires were lit, pranks were played and people dressed up in costumes. The Irish immigrants took their Halloween traditions with them when they settled in the United States, swapped turnip lanterns for the much easier to carve pumpkin and their guising became  trick-or-treating.

The long, dark nights of October bring ghostly connotations as it was believed to be a time when the veil between the living and the dead was the thinnest, and when humans could communicate with those beyond the grave. 

Our modern Halloween has appropriated the customs from all of these festivals and is now a chance for fancy dress and pumpkin carving, apple bobbing, trick or treating and enjoying a scary movie or of course, a scary book!

We have lots of Halloween inspired activities in our Kids Zone including colouring pages, puzzles and party packs. 

And if you want to write your own story find three fearsome tips and techniques for writing spooky stories and craft your own truly terrifying tales!

Scroll on for a frighteningly good selection of books for children of all ages as well as grown-ups who have never quite grown up.

Close the curtains, lock the doors and settle down with one of our spooky reads....

Happy Halloween!